A Look Into the Child: Journey for Purpose
by Mathais
Summary: BL, GL. A young boy named Yuli runs away from his surrogate home due to the tension between him and his surrogate family. He leaves to find a purpose for himself and to show that he isn't an unnecessary burden.
1. Escape Into The Storm

Story Title: A Look Into the Child: Journey for Purpose

Chapter Title: Escape Into the Storm

Author: Mathais

Rating: T

Fandom: Ronin Warriors

Warnings: Pro-Yuli, Boys Love, Girls Love, Discontinued

Pairings: OC/OC, Yuli/Shiroi

Summary: A young boy named Yuli runs away from his surrogate home due to the tension between him and his surrogate family. He leaves to find a purpose for himself and to show that he isn't an unnecessary burden.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and elements of Ronin Warriors.

Notes (2010): This story was a pair of stories with a pro-Yuli slant; this one is what happens if the Ronins really did hate Yuli. The other, _Shadowed Eyes_, was one where they really didn't... and it was a poorly written abuse!fic. The latter's long since gone except on my hard drive. And wow, watch for the fangirl Japanese.

**OoOoO**

A small boy of about ten years looked out at the storm through an open window with a hint of determination in his eyes. Using a VERY clichéd trick, the boy took his blanket from the bed. Taking and knotting it, the boy made a makeshift rope from the blanket. Throwing it out the window and tying one end to the bedpost, the boy managed to make a stealthy escape route. First off, he tossed his skateboard out the window and into the bushes where it made the smallest sound that was possible. Carefully, he listened for any sound indicating that his former nii-sans or his former nee-chan heard. Hearing none, the boy wall jumped with the blanket-rope to the ground. Curling up his handiwork, the boy threw with all his might and the ball of blankets landed inside the window. With a black thread that he had carefully attached to the window and was inconspicuous enough that his former brothers didn't notice it, the boy closed the window quietly before breaking the string off. Smiling to himself, the boy went to his hiding place in the forest and took his wooden bokken. Hopping onto his skateboard, the boy raced away from the house and down the wet streets. It was very blurry from the rain and thunder crackled overhead, but the boy continued onward, using the slickness of the now totally soaked sidewalks to his advantage. He didn't want to risk going on the street at this time. Whizzing by some more, the boy eventually made it to the park. Performing a complicated maneuver, the boy hopped onto the bench, slid across it, and jumped forward before reaching the end. The boy then caught his skateboard as it flew off the bench with the momentum he gave it. Placing it on the bench along with his bokken, the boy gave a sigh as he looked at the rainy sky.

"You've got to believe, In the power of love..." The boy sang softly. It was a tune from one of the Animé he watches. "You've got to believe, In the power of love... It gives meaning to each moment... It's what our hearts are all made of... You've got to believe, In the power of love... The power of love..." The boy let the rainwater pour down his face and body. His face was etched in sorrow as his brown hair matted down his head from the onslaught of water. "It's hard to believe in love when your world is devoid of it." Tears leaked from normally bright blue eyes that were now darkened in sadness as the boy scrubbed them away furiously. "Now's not the time for crying. I've done enough of that. But it's hard to believe in that stuff now in this void." The boy began to whisper to himself. "My onii-sans and onee-chan sees me as a burden and a child. But I don't want that. I've finally gotten over my fear of the Seasonals, but again they see me as a brat." The boy slumped down on the hard wooden bench, his white shirt being stained as his blue jeans clung to his skin. But the boy didn't seem to notice this and if he did, he made no sign of it. "Kaa-san and tou-san disappeared in the Dynasty Wars. Jii-san and Baa-san died before that. No oji-sans, oba-sans, or itokos to take care of me either. I was left with my nii-sans and nee-chan. And still..." The boy shook his head as a few more tears escaped his eyes and mixed with the rain streaming down his face. "I am nothing to them but a child who can't take care of himself. Is it my fault that I don't have a mystical yoroi? Is it my fault that I don't have extensive knowledge about the yoroi legend? Is it my fault that I was dragged into these stupid battles as an eight-year-old? Is it my fault that my parents were lost and most likely dead after the wars - the so-called 'Toyama Disturbance'? Is it my fault that I don't have any powers at all? Is it my fault that I'm NORMAL? Is it my fault that I'm only human?" The child whispered the last sentence as he lost all self-control and broke down crying. "Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay." The ten-year-old recited the poem word for word mournfully. "That day seemed like gold. It didn't last. The Ronins seemed like gold. It wasn't gold in the first place I guess. Robert Frost was right... I just can't hold it up anymore. I just can't do it!" The child drew his knees up to his chin as he curled up in a ball. "I don't understand. What did I do to make them hate me this much?"

A sudden whoosh of sound alerted the boy's ears.

"Who's there?" The boy shouted.

"My my... So this is the person Master wants? This'll be a piece of cake." A dark masculine voice chuckled.

"Who's there? Where are you?" The brown-haired kid gripped his bokken tightly.

"Right behind you brat." The boy whirled around to find a figure shrouded in black. Through the rain, however, he could hardly see anything else.

"Once again, who are you?"

"The delivery man. Master wants you and I'll deliver."

"Not while I live."

"I'll make you eat those words." The figure unstrapped a large club that attacked to his back. He charged forward with frightening speed. The figure soon revealed itself to be a 6-foot-high armor that moved like a real person.

"Oh crap." The boy whispered as he readied for impact.

**OoOoO**

A large white tiger's ears perked up, as he sensed invading darkness not even near this area. But still relatively close.

_What is this?_ The tiger thought to himself. _Wait. I haven't heard a peep from the little one for a while._

"Hey!" The tiger's longhaired companion called to him. The black hair that belongs to that person swayed as the teenager stood up. "What's the matter?"

The beast gave a small growl. _Nothing of your concern master._ The tiger thought, wishing he could say it out loud. The black striped tiger bounded up the stairs, barreling past a blonde haired person with hair that seemed to defy physics.

"Where are you going?" The blonde called. The tiger ignored the blonde teenager as he bounded past the rooms.

"Whoa!" The white tiger crashed into the oddly blue haired teenage boy that had just come out of his room. "Watch where ya going ya furball!"

He gave a grunt in reply to the retort as he again ran past. Nudging a door open, the tiger nearly groaned in disappointment when he came across the large teen's and the youngest teen's room.

"Hey kitty." The ashen-haired teen gave a grin.

"You want a snack?" The other teen, the youngest one that had auburn colored hair, held a small meat roll out. The tiger walked out of the room stiffly.

_I know I shouldn't have missed it!_

The guardian tiger opened the next door and would've facefaulted if he could.

"EEK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? SHOO! GET OUT!" He charged out of the room as fast as he came in with two slippers after him, courtesy of a brown haired woman in the room. Slamming the door shut, the tiger took some deep breaths as his eyes widened - something never done in front of his companions.

_What the? Dear god! Why would my companion want to see THAT?_ The large beast took some more deep breaths before making it to the final room. He sniffed it and gave a grunt of happiness. _This is definitely the boy's room._ Opening the door, the animal gave a tiger's version of a frown in disappointment as he stared at the empty room.

_The boy's not here? How is that possible?_ The tiger then noticed the rolled up blankets tied to the bedpost. He went over to sniff it and found both the boy's scent and the scent of fresh rain. _Fresh rain?_ The tiger touched the blankets and found it wet. He cocked his head to the side in confusion. He then heard the thunder crackling outside. Looking at the window, his eyes widened at what he found. It was open slightly and had a sting of black thread attacked to the handle. He now feared that the boy had escaped because of the tension. _I must find him! What if he's near the darkness?_ The tiger shot out of the child's room, pausing only to close the door. _It wouldn't do to have them worry... Again._ The white beast then charged through the building, bounding down the stairs, and out the door. Not without managing to knock every single person in the house down first though.

The tiger charged through the wet streets. _He's out here? One minute and I'm already soaked! He can't have been wearing more than a shirt and jeans!_ His old promise to the monk renewed itself. His former companion had told him to look after Wildfire and the boy. _Wildfire's safe, but the boy isn't right now._ So he charged through the street looking for the child he promised to take care of with his life. When he came to the park, there was a scene that actually frightened him.

The child he was supposed to protect was facing off against a Dynasty lackey. And a powerful at that. The boy was armed with a skateboard and a wooden bokken while the warrior was armed with a club infused with dark energies. The warrior had already charged twice by the looks of it, but no decisive hits were scored. The boy jumped onto his skateboard and went whizzing back the warrior. The soldier seemed surprised before he toppled over from the fast hit the child had given him. It was only a small dent as the armored one once again stood his ground and bashed the boy on the arm. He missed though, but the boy was thrown off the skateboard and went skidding by as the skateboard was smashed to pieces. The boy had raised his bokken again and tried in vain to ward off the onslaught of attacks the fighter was giving him.

Giving a roar, the large beast rushed into the thick of the duel as managed to disarm the warrior.

**OoOoO**

"Yay!" The child exclaimed as the tiger distracted his enemy.

"Brat! This stupid animal won't stop my plans!" The soldier gave a grunt as he heaved his attacker a good ten feet, but the animal came back again by slashing with his claws. The warrior hissed in pain.

"I have a name y'know. But I doubt you need to know it!" The boy smashed his bokken against the side of the warrior's head. The head twisted that way, but the warrior seemed to grin.

"Is that all you got brat? I suspected better of you." The warrior tsked. "Perhaps I can have a little fun." The warrior kicked his assailant in the ribs. The tiger roared in pain as he once again slashed the warrior across the chest. "Stupid animal." The fighter picked up his club again and bashed the white tiger three times with it. The guardian tiger collapsed unconscious.

"No!" The boy cried in horror. "Wake up please!"

"I suggest that you worry about yourself." The warrior grunted as he gave a swing at the boy, but he nimbly dodged the blow by rolling away.

"Look up!" The warrior did as told.

"Look down!" The warrior did so again.

"Look straight!" The warrior looked at the boy, only to be the receiving end of the bokken's thrust.

"Damn!" The warrior swore.

"Don't swear." The boy gave another bash at the warrior, but the Dynasty lackey grabbed the bokken and tossed it away. He then punched the boy really hard, making the boy fly into a corner of a stone building. He skidded against the wet ground, making it all more painful.

The boy felt something around his neck start to warm up. He smiled a smile only he could see as it was raining hard. At least this rain will keep an infection away, but not hypothermia or anything of that sort. The boy gave a gasp, however, when a blast of darkness bound him by the legs and arms. He couldn't move them.

"This is a special magic that Master gave me so that I could capture you in case of struggle."

"Who is you master?"

"Someone you'll meet soon." The warrior smirked as he advanced toward the boy.

Something around the youngster's neck glowing white as it revealed itself. The item was rapidly spinning and sent out waves of white light.

The warrior roared in pain as he was pushed back by the light radiating from the magical artifact.

"What is this?"

"I see you've met the Jewel of Life." The boy still looked worried, as it wasn't defeating this darkness.

"I see... Perhaps this would work." The warrior held out his palm. "Master, the boy is resisting with the Jewel. Send aid!" Dark blasts of energy shot out of his palm, countering each stroke of light energy. Soon the Nether energy overwhelmed the Jewel of Life and the artifact lay dead on his chest.

"Master said that he wants you soon, but I guess he won't mind if I play with you first." The warrior smirked as he grabbed the boy's arm. The child screamed in pain as his wrist was slowly being crushed. The Dynasty lackey then used his left hand to punch the boy in the gut. Specks of blood flew from the kid's mouth from the blow. A sharp kick to the wrist broke that section. The boy was screaming all the time.

_Ancient..._ The world grew dimmer as his body was being hit with blows. _Please... Anubis... Somebody... I guess this is what I get for being useless._

On the edge of consciousness, the boy heard a familiar ringing. Opening his mental eyes wide, the boy surged toward it mentally. _Please..._ He latched onto it, for it was the only anchor to consciousness he had. The child took a deep breath as he cracked open his eyes. The rain was still flowing down in torrents, but he was feeling better. He gasped as he noticed a lot of his injuries were healed. A faint clanging noise was heard as the boy smiled grimly. His enemy was stunned from the sound. A loud thump sounded from the boy's left side. The child looked to see a staff with many golden rings next to him. "Thank you Ancient. Thank you Anubis." The boy took the staff in his hand and pointed it at the stunned warrior. The rings jangled for a moment before a bright flash erupted through the area. The warrior didn't have time to scream as he was obliterated. The boy slumped to the ground as he pointed the staff at the unconscious tiger. The guardian glowed white as the wounds inflicted on him were healed. The staff disappeared as the boy slumped forward.

"Don't tell a soul." _The price for being weak and useless..._ That was his last coherent thought as he fell to the ground from the lack of energy as the rain poured onto him.

**OoOoO**

"Get in here!" A blue haired priestess cried from where she was meditating. She was in a deep trance when the Staff of the Ancients had suddenly disappeared. That was when she had called out from them.

"What is it?" Three men came into the room. There was a silverish haired man, an olive green haired man, and a blue haired man.

"It's gone." The priestess gasped in horror.

"How is that possible?" The blue haired man openly gaped.

"Where is it?" The silver haired man searched the room.

"I don't know. What could have happened to it?" The green haired man looked on in shock.

In another flash, the staff appeared back in the chamber. The priestess immediately snatched it up and searched through it. Memories of the battle popped up along with any thought running through the boy's head. When it finished, the woman dropped the staff in shock. She collapsed onto her knees.

"What happened?" The silver haired man was holding the woman.

"Y-Y-Yu-Yuli..." She stuttered.

**OoOoO**

End Notes: The song excerpt was from "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Cihi from Sailor Moon. The poem that the bow whispered was "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. I own neither.

End Notes (2010): I removed the god-awful framing script that I couldn't stand to see anymore, but that and the line breaks are the only things that have changed, except some grammar errors.


	2. Into the Arms of Another

Story Title: A Look Into the Child: Journey for Purpose

Chapter Title: Into the Arms of Another

Author: Mathais

Rating: T

Fandom: Ronin Warriors

Warnings: Pro-Yuli, Boys Love, Girls Love, Discontinued

Pairings: OC/OC, Yuli/Shiroi

Summary: A young boy named Yuli runs away from his surrogate home due to the tension between him and his surrogate family. He leaves to find a purpose for himself and to show that he isn't an unnecessary burden.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and elements of Ronin Warriors. I do own Suyi, Leon, Fuumi, and Malena.

Notes (2010): This story was a pair of stories with a pro-Yuli slant; this one is what happens if the Ronins really did hate Yuli. The other, _Shadowed Eyes_, was one where they really didn't... and it was a poorly written abuse!fic. The latter's long since gone except on my hard drive. And wow, watch for the fangirl Japanese.

**OoOoO**

Yamano Yuli felt the muscles of his body fail him. He had spent too much energy. With too dim eyes, he stared forward, sending the Staff away. How he knew how to do that, he didn't know. With a final breath, Yuli closed his eyes, slumping into darkness.

Four people entered the area, whispering.

"Is he the one?" One boy asked, brushing a strand of brown hair from its position of covering one dark brown eye.

"Of course he is. Didn't you see it?" A girl answered, her blonde hair crawling all over her face in the rain.

"We saw." The other boy, his hair a dark blue, said politely.

"Yeah. Kind of good too. Unrefined, but good." The last girl, one with long back hair, admitted.

The brown haired boy shoved her. "We're still unrefined too."

The blue haired boy snapped his head up, effectively ending the bickering. "There's a hole in the fabric of space! Teleportation right here!"

"Let's move!" The black haired girl barked.

The blue haired boy picked up Yuli and the black haired girl and the other boy picked White Blaze up, but not without a little difficulty.

The last girl started to weave her hands. With a wink, they disappeared.

In a swirl of cherry blossoms, Kayura appeared right in the park. She was wearing her Spring Ogre sub-armor, but carrying the Starlight Jittes from her Demon Priestess days. Silently, she surveyed the area. "Hmm... There was definitely a battle here. Quietly, she knelt down, examining the mud. "Some people were here. They must have taken Yuli." Kayura closed her eyes, stretching her magical senses. "Lots of dark magic and light magic clashed here. And what's this?" The former Demon Priestess and last survivor of the Clan of the Ancients gasped. "Where does this teleportation go to?" With a shriek, she withdrew her senses as all traces of the teleportation exploded in her mind's eye.

"Damn." She growled. "But where's Yuli?" Her voice softened. "Why the hell was he out here anyway?"

The woman's ears twitched, hearing something she didn't want to hear. "Someone's coming." With a swing of her hand, her Starlight Jittes disappeared and the Ancient Staff appeared instead. Slamming the staff into the ground, a wave of light made the battle scars disappear as Kayura herself teleported back to the Dynasty.

"White Blaze!" A man called. "Where are you? Yuli? Are you there?" Long black hair fell from his head, ending at his waist. Sheets of red and white metal covered his body, not that he minded.

"Damn." He cursed. "I can't believe the kid ran away. And White Blaze too? What's the world coming to?" His eyes softened a bit. "That is what we constantly wished, didn't we? That Yuli would go away. Dammit! I didn't mean it seriously." With teary eyes, the man ran away, his body unseen to the naked eye.

**OoOoO**

Yuli groaned. "What bus hit me? And why didn't I get the license plate?"

"Here." A soft voice said as a bowl was held to his mouth. Too weak to argue, Yuli let the cold water slide down his mouth and through his worn throat. He felt a little better as he opened his eyes.

The first thing Yuli noticed that he was on a bed. Not that soft, but not that hard either. He was wearing a blue shirt and jeans that looked a little worn. Not his usual white shirt and jeans.

"Where am I?" He croaked.

"In our pocket dimension." Yuli turned his head and saw a boy there. His hair was short and a dark blue shade, almost black and his eyes were large with a cerulean hue, like large pools of water. His wore a loose t-shirt of sky blue and jeans that looked a size too small for him. They showed off his lean figure well. The boy looked to be about ten. If Yuli would dare say it, this boy was feminine.

"You're awake."

"Did you pick up my unconscious body from the park?" Yuli asked.

"Me and my friends, yeah. We also have the tiger." The boy smiled. "Boku wa Mizuga Suyi."

"Yamano Yuli." The boy nodded. "Did you say pocket dimension?"

He smiled thinly. "Yeah, I did. You see, we're all orphans and rather than going to an orphanage, we live here."

"We?" Yuli sat up.

"Me and the others." Suyi propped the other boy up. "You need help?"

Making a face, Yuli nodded. Suyi helped Yuli up and found that Yuli was taller than the other boy.

"All right then." Suyi brought the other boy down the stairs and out the door. Yuli found the two houses much the same, with modern conveniences and one more off to the side. Another boy looked up for the center of the two houses and rushed toward them.

"Suyi-chan!" The other boy called.

"Leon-kun!" Suyi smiled.

Yuli looked at the new boy. He was tall, a bit taller than himself. The boy had light brown hair that fell to his shoulders, but managed to look masculine. He also had dark brown eyes that Yuli could get lost staring in, hard, like the earth. The boy wore a brown muscle shirt and shorts that went to his knees, showing his muscular (for an eleven-year-old) body.

"This is Yuli." Suyi explained.

"Chiki Leon." The other boy nodded. "Did you have him cleaned up?"

Suyi nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!"

Leon slid his eyes over to the younger boy. Suyi's face gained a red hue. "Get your mind out of the gutter if you still want to use it."

Leon smirked slightly.

"C'mon then." The brown haired boy led them to the other building. Inside, Yuli saw two girls.

One girl had long blonde hair, looking constantly windswept. Her eyes were a cool jade, but bright. She wore a green sleeveless shirt and some plain jeans. Her legs seemed very powerful and she smiled a lot.

The other girl was different. Her eyes were a dark crimson, the color of near-black fire. The girl's hair was long and dark, black to the truest sense of the word. She wore a simple red t-shirt and brown cargo pants.

"You're awake." The crimson-eyed girl noted. "Watashi wa Hijiri Malena."

"Kazehuna Fuumi." The other girl introduced.

"Yamano Yuli." Yuli smiled, but his body was feeling a bit weak.

"What are you doing up?" Malena mock-growled, already feeling familiar with the new kid somehow. "You're supposed to be resting."

Suyi smiled sheepishly. "That's my fault."

"Land him on one of those couches and turn on the TV." Fuumi suggested, brushing back a bit of her blonde hair.

"TV?" Yuli raised an eyebrow.

"You'd be amazed at what people throw out." Leon winked. "We had Fuumi here fix everything up. That's why we have all these things."

"We do some illegal things." Suyi admitted, feeling comfortable with Yuli. "We hack into bank records and take some cash, but it's only from those really wealthy people who won't miss what we take out and never from the same account, unless we're desperate."

"You gotta do what you gotta do." Yuli admitted. He couldn't explain the instant kinship he felt with the others. He usually was a bit wary of new people.

As the three, aka the boys, walked out together, Suyi called over his shoulder. "Rice with Chinese vegetables good enough for today? Maybe some duck if you guys want. I'll do the shopping."

"That's fine." Malena nodded as the three left.

"You four work efficiently." Yuli noted.

"Yeah." Leon smiled. "I do all the physical labor around here, not that there's much. I also love gardening. Trees and flowers are my forte. Suyi's the most artistic of us all. He loves to draw and made the designs for the houses. Plus, he also does the cooking."

"If I didn't, you'd all be resorting to take out every day." Suyi put in dryly. Leon flashed him a quick glare.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." Suyi snorted. "Suyi's the artistic one, but is completely abysmal with computers unless he's using them to surf the web. His stories are fascinating. Fuumi loves to dance. She's a dancer, sprinter, anything that uses her legs. She's also a whiz with technology and can hotwire a car very quickly. All the technological things here are because she fixed them all from scratch. Book smart too." Leon smiled once more. "Malena's our fighter. She strong and deadly, but very protective of us. She's also our leader. While Fuumi's a technological whiz, Malena's our hacker. Fuumi can't hack, but Malena's good. Very good."

"You keep him safe." Suyi said sternly as they placed Yuli inside the house he was in before.

"Yeah, I will." Leon nodded.

Suyi walked out of the house. A simple portal appeared in front of him.

"If there's any sign of teleportation, I want you back here in an instant!" Leon called. "And cover your tracks!"

"Hai kaa-san!" Suyi waved as he stepped through and disappeared.

As Yuli made himself comfortable, Leon turned on the TV, but sighed a bit.

"I don't understand this at all!" Leon cried miserably, his face burying itself into the worn couch.

"The fact that everything seems too unrealistic? The feeling that we've known each other for a while, yet you're positively sure we've never seen each other before." Yuli babbled, his feelings taking control of him. "The feeling of comfort by having me here that seems so right, it doesn't seem right? How we all seem to get along, despite knowing me for less than an hour?"

"Exactly." Leon whispered. "That hits it on the head. I didn't know that anyone could accurately describe this."

Yuli shrugged. "I don't know. Will you believe it just came out?"

Leon smirked. "Definitely."

The two continued to talk for a while, Yuli getting answers to everything except why they lived in a subspace dimension.

A nice smell drifted through the room, causing the two boys to look up.

Yuli sniffed and smiled dreamily. "Ooh... That smells nice."

Leon licked his lips. "I never get tired of Suyi's cooking. Imagine what he'll be like later on."

"A mini-Cye." Yuli muttered, almost standing. He didn't want to move from the cocoon of blankets that he found himself in when he gathered the blankets on the soft couch. He cocked his head to the side. "Where _did_ you get this? It's softer than a bed."

Leon gave a lop-sided half-smile. "On a curb."

"Who in their right mind would give this," Yuli gestured to the fluffiness around him, "up?"

"Obviously someone who didn't have a choice." Leon said.

With a sigh, Yuli extracted himself from the cocoon and then blinked. "White Blaze!"

"C'mon then." Leon led the boy through the house and outside. Yuli rushed toward the final house. What he saw inside of there made him freeze.

"Beautiful." Leon whispered.

A lithe figure was huddled together, shivering slightly. He was tall, but thin, and had a heart-shaped face. Black hair was short and curved around his ears and neck. A red shirt covered the top while some blue shorts went from the waist down. That showed enough of lean muscles and despite being ten, Yuli had to forcefully stop himself from drooling.

"White Blaze?" Yuli asked, shaking the boy before him.

The boy's eyes snapped open. Noticing that he was in his natural form, the boy gasped. "You're not supposed to see me like this!"

"Too late." Yuli remarked, eyeing White Blaze up and down. "Are you still White Blaze?"

He shook his head. "Shiroi."

"Nice name." Yuli smiled.

"Thank you." Shiroi blushed. "Are you all right? You took some nasty hits during the battle."

"I'm fine. The question is whether you're all right or not." Yuli pointed out.

"Other than a small headache, no." Shiroi smiled, but turned to Leon and cocked his head to the side. "Why are you eyeing me up and down like that?"

Leon was, in fact, staring at Shiroi. "I approve."

Both boys blinked.

Leon circled Shiroi and chuckled. "In fact, I'd go after you if I didn't already have Suyi."

The full implications hit them and Shiroi blushed really red.

"You're dating Suyi?" Yuli cried.

"Yeah." Leon nodded.

"That's so cool!" Yuli bounced around the room.

"How old are you anyway?" Leon shifted gears and turned to Shiroi.

"Twelve." The former tiger blushed.

"That's cool!" Yuli smiled.

Shiroi then began to sniff the air. "Is that the divine aura of cooking I smell?"

"C'mon, Suyi's probably done with dinner." Leon waved a hand.

Shiroi was up and out in a flash, Yuli only a centimeter behind him. Leon chuckled as he followed them.

Malena and Fuumi glanced appraisingly at Shiroi when he raced with Yuli behind him toward.

"White Blaze, former tiger." Yuli explained as he jumped onto the taller boy's shoulders and hung off the neck. Shiroi merely giggled and carried the smaller boy.

Suyi stared at Shiroi, hand halfway from the rice cooker with rice to be scooped into five bowls.

Shiroi laid Yuli down gently and circled Suyi. "You're pretty."

Suyi blushed brightly as he closed the rice cooker and stood up. "I'll get another bowl." He all but ran for his house.

Shiroi merely chuckled.

"That wasn't nice." Leon scolded, but the smile on his face dispelled any true sting.

"It was fun though." Shiroi smiled.

Suyi came back, normal-faced, with another bowl. He continued to scoop rice as he put bowls of Chinese vegetables and duck onto the table in the center of the table in Fuumi and Malena's house.

"Dinner's ready!" Suyi called.

All six children began to eat.

"Yummy!" Shiroi smiled. "This is really good!"

"Awesome!" Yuli grinned.

Suyi merely blushed.

The six continued to eat while talking.

"So, you're a guardian in tiger form, but that isn't your real form." Leon explained.

Shiroi nodded. "I had another charge, but they're all right, so I have my current charge to protect. Yuli." He gave a strange smile to the younger boy and it made heat crawl up the boy's face.

"So, why do you live in a pocket dimension?" Yuli asked the others.

The atmosphere immediately darkened.

"We're... orphans." Leon explained. "We were born with powers, magic. Our job is to train for the next evil to come along and as a second line of defense for the Mortal Realm."

Malena spoke up. "I have the power of Rekka and sub-power of Gen."

"Suiko and Oni." Suyi responded.

Fuumi was next. "I am of the Tenku and Yami."

Leon was last. "Kongo and Doku are mine."

"You're our last defender Yuli." Malena explained. "You hold the power of Kourin and Life."

"Life?" Yuli raised an eyebrow.

"What the Clan of the Ancients represents." Shiroi explained. "I'm a guardian with Defender powers and mild Life powers. My main weapons are twin katars."

"I own the tonfas." Suyi explained.

"Daggers for me." Fuumi said.

Leon took up the litany. "I have a scythe."

Malena grinned a feral smile. "I own a chain whip."

"I probably have a staff." Yuli shrugged.

The six returned to eating, mulling over what they had learned.

OoOoO

It's been four years since that day. Four long years. All six trained in earnest for the new darkness that would be invading their world.

The owner of the Armor of Wildfire stared at the sky. _Where are you, Yuli, White Blaze?_

"Ryo?" The raven-haired man turned to see the holder of Strata. "What's up?"

"Just thinking about the kid." Ryo sighed. "He'd be fourteen, wouldn't he Rowen?"

"Aye, he would." Rowen nodded. "He'd probably be very mature right now."

"Where did he go?" Tear-filled eyes stared up at the Strata warrior. "Why?"

"We both know why, mate." Rowen answered quietly. "We all do."

"Did we have to do that?" Ryo asked.

"We weren't ready for a child." Rowen shrugged. "We weren't ready and Yuli paid the price."

Ryo sighed and leaned against the wall. "It hurts. It still hurts."

Rowen nodded. "It will, it will for a long time."

Wildfire let a few tears escape from his eyes. "I'm sorry Yuli. I'm so sorry!"

"We all are mate, we all are." Rowen held his crying leader in his arms as he stared at the sky. _I hope you can hear us. We're all sorry for what we did. We really are. I hope we can see you again some day._

Little did he know that that meeting was going to come sooner than he thought.

**OoOoO**

End Notes: The idea of White Blaze having another form was taken with permission from Tenshi. Her website can be found here: http(colon)/www(dot)bishink(dot)org/

End Notes (2010): I removed the god-awful framing script that I couldn't stand to see anymore, but that and the line breaks are the only things that have changed, except some grammar errors.


End file.
